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Queen Victoria's 175th Anniversary of Accession and
one that got away....
Buckingham will be commemorating the 175th Anniversary of the Accession
of Queen Victoria with a brand new Business Customised Stamp Sheet to be
issued in June. Tony and Cath's team have produced a great looking
sheet design which subject to the RM production processing delivering
should be with us in June priced at a reasonable £26.95 plus p+p,
from a limited production of just 500 sheets.
We regret the small image size but we are limited to what
Buckingham post on their website despite numerous requests for better
quality images, our requests seem to have fallen on deaf ears. This cannot
be said for some of the other sheet producers who have sought to promote
their products by providing better quality images that would otherwise be
available to us. This in turn enables us to share with you their work in
greater detail.
Moving swiftly on, we have previously featured images of
sheets which, for one reason or another, never quite made it to the
printing press. Adrian Bradbury has written to us and shared an image of
one such sheet that did not find favour with the the copyright ownerr and
without their blessing and approval did not proceed. You will
remember that Cath and Tony Buckingham failed recently to get the Palace
to agree a commemoration relating to the abdication of King Edward VIII.
Here is another example for the record.
The following artwork was produced by Adrian Bradbury last
year to mark the 600th Anniversary of the Guildhall, London. Sadly
for us collectors, the powers that be did not respond positively so the
sheet did not proceed to production. A great shame as this would have made
a refreshing change from the usual run of Railways, Ships and
Royalty. (17/05)
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Olympic/Paralympic Games Generic Sheet from Royal Mail
Royal Mail have released details of a new Generic Smilers sheet to be
issued on 27 June 2012, priced at £15.22 per sheet. The sheet is
entitled London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games Venues. The
self-adhesive format generic Sheet will feature 16 x 1st Class Olympic and
Paralympic definitive-size stamps and 4 x Olympic and Paralympic Worldwide
definitive-size stamps against a background showing a selection of famous London
sights with the labels depicting Olympic and Paralympic games
venues. Our opinion is a rather dull, uninspired sheet despite the vibrant
orange colour. (10/05)
Basque Children - 75th Anniversary Smilers
We have received news of two new Basque Children's Smilers sheets due
for release later this month. Cliff Kirkpatrick has advised that the
Basque Children of '37 Association UK have produced two new Smilers Sheets
on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the Basque
Children at Southampton. The first is from a limited edition of 10
numbered sheets and the second has a slightly larger print run of 15
sheets which, depending on interest, "a further small issue of
reprints" may be authorised to meet increased demand. The sheets are
expected to be available from 23rd May, the actual day the children
disembarked at Southampton. For further details please contact Cliff
Kirkpatrick.
Cliff has also written and advised of a potentially
interesting proposition for Smilers collectors. Cliff writes....
"... Sheet Nos.01 of the six previous issues of this
series belong to the Basque Children Association and because of the high
cost of the forthcoming special anniversary weekend events taking place in
Southampton the Association has decided to sell their copies to help
towards meeting the costs. This particular set, apart from all being Sheet
Nos 01, include the Association's logo, which in a sense makes them
unique." The association is looking for c. £750 for this set.
From preference the Association would prefer the set to go to a single
collector and not be broken up but if there are no takers then they would
probably be listed singly on eBay. Monies raised by the sales of all these
issues will go entirely, without any deductions to the Association."
So if any reader is interested in buying this unique set
of six different sheets which commemorate six Basque Children's
Homes, and all numbered No. 1 of 10, please contact Cliff
Kirkpatrick directly with your best offer. (10/05)
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Titanic Commemorative Sheet from Isle of Man Post
On 2 April 2012 Isle of Man Post released an attractive Commemorative
Sheet priced £8.55 (Royal Mail - please take note!) commemorating the
100th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. In addition a
special set of stamps were released which were also made available in
collectible souvenir sheet format not too dissimilar in design to Smilers
sheets. I have included images of all three sheets in our updated section
on Isle of Man, (22/04)
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Olympics Smiler Sheet
On 27 June 2012 Royal Mail will start the Olympic party by
issuing a new Generic sheet comprising 16 x 1st and 4 x world wide
stamps/label combinations (possibly utilizing the Olympic stamps issued in
January). No artwork is available just yet but as soon as we are able we
will be featuring this sheet in more detail. It is unclear whether personalised
versions of this sheet will be available but we think it possible that Royal Mail
may wish to mark the event with a personalised version - lets hope so! (20/04)
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The Goon Show Commemorative Sheet
On 5 October 2012 Royal Mail will issue a Commemorative Sheet which
will mark the 40th Anniversary of the broadcast of last Goon Show Show in
1972. The Last Goon Show of All was first broadcast on 10 May 1972
and was specially written and performed as part of the celebrations for
the 50th anniversary of the BBC. Therefore by deduction, it must be
the 90th anniversary of that esteemed organization this year - an event
perhaps with broader appeal than the rather dubious Goon Show
anniversary!! (20/04)
Indonesia 2012 Generic Exhibition Sheet
On 18 June 2012 Royal Mail will be issuing another Philatelic
Exhibition inspired generic stamp sheet comprising 20 x 1st class stamps
and labels to coincide with their participation in Indonesia 2012, an
international philatelic expo to be held in Jakarta between 18-24 June.
Details of the sheet have yet to be released but may incorporate the
following images which are the official logo and mascot for the show. (20/04)
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James Bond Commemorative Sheet
As previously announced, Royal Mail will be issuing a Commemorative
Sheet to celebrate 50 Years of James Bond Movies on 1st May 2012.
The label designs were selected by an on-line poll and the resultant
publicity image has been released. Personally, I think it looks
great, and should prove popular at home and abroad! (17/04)
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New Business Sheets Update
I have finally got round to updating the Business Customised Listing
which has been woefully out of date over the past few weeks. The Easter
break and family birthdays have both conspired to prevent me from updating
this site. Hopefully I will catch-up over the next week or so.
For now, news of a couple of new business sheets hitherto not covered.
Adrian Bradbury has unveiled details of his latest Business
sheet in the form of a 150th Anniversary of Alice in Wonderland.
Adrian has filled this one with all manner of interesting images of the
period and it should be another popular addition to his History of Britain
series, now up to No. 84.
Adrian Bradbury has also been busy with the folks at
Bletchley Park Post Office in co-operating on the production of a new
Vulcan in the Sky sheet to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of a
Falkland War bombing operation - Black Buck, no, I had never heard
of it either! (17/04)
